Endicott named School of Distinction

Endicott school staff holds their great school banner at an assembly held Oct. 28.

Endicott School has been named a 2009 School of Distinction by a pair of education improvement organizations. School officials accepted a banner from Superintendent Mike Dunn of Education Service District 101 to mark the honor at a ceremony in the school gymnasium last Wednesday, Oct. 28.

“It’s quite an honor, and it really shows how dedicated and focused our entire staff has been,” said Endicott Principal Suzanne Schmick.

Endicott is one of 104 schools in Washington to receive the School of Distinction award from the Center for Educational Effectiveness and the Washington chapter of Phi Delta Kappa International. The organizations are think-tanks focused on the state and federal education systems.

Endicott was the lone school in Whitman County to receive the award.

Over the past seven years, the Endicott school has ranked in the top five percent in the state in improved reading and math scores on the Washington Assessment of Student Learning exams.

The Center for Educational Effectiveness was contracted in 2007 by the state superintendent’s office to provide an independent analysis of school performance on the WASL.